Suicide awareness 'Out of the Darkness Campus Walk' to be held Saturday in Potsdam

Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 11:30 am

POTSDAM -- SUNY Potsdam will host an “Out of the Darkness Campus Walk” to raise awareness about suicide on April 12 at 11 a.m., starting and ending in the College's new Performing Arts Center.

Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center Lobby.

During registration time, people can decorate luminaire bags, decorate bandanas for a future quilt, pick up information about suicide, depression and resources, take part in the silent auction, or buy t-shirts, bracelets and more to support the walk.

The walk will take a one- to two-mile loop around campus before returning to the Performing Arts Center around 12:30 p.m. There will be a short ceremony following the walk.

. The walk is free and will be held, rain or shine.

The ceremony emcee is Mary Jones, from Hospice and Palliative Care of the St. Lawrence Valley, who is the director of the St. Lawrence County Suicide Coalition. Alicia Clifford, the sister of SUNY Potsdam student Jeffery Kimball, who was lost to suicide, will also speak.

There will also be a rally the night before, on Friday, April 11 from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Knowles Conference Center. There will be snacks, refreshments, music, luminary and bandana decorating, and the winner of the campus “Penny War” will be announced.

The walk is sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and will raise funds and awareness for AFSP's vision of creating a world without suicide